Page 56 of Highland Prince of Darkness

“Aye, well this is nae yer clan. Ye may have grown up here, but May is the one with the stronger claim.”

Iain wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes at his guardian’s comments, but he knew better than to do that. He sighed instead and turned his head to look out of the window. The ground was dry but the sky was heavy with rain. The dark clouds above were ominous. These were not good riding conditions.

“I just hope that she’s all right out there.”

“She will be fine,” Bruce said once more. “The outskirts are nae as dangerous as ye seem to be so convinced that they are. I’m sure that she’s going to be home soon and ye’re going to feel foolish for worrying so much.”

Iain nodded in response to Bruce’s words.

“I may not say this too often, but I really do hope that ye’re right,” Iain agreed.

Hours passed and there was no sign of the men and May’s return. Iain stood out on the lookout posts and waited in the cold, but he didn’t care for his own condition. He imagined that this was how May had felt as she waited for him to wake up after he had been shot. Iain didn’t like how desperate he felt while waiting, and he certainly knew that in the future, he wasn’t going to let May go out on her own again.

“Come down from there, lad, she will be back soon.”

However, Iain only shook his head at Bruce’s request. Alistair was resting in the healer’s quarters, and Iain knew that he had to try and remain in charge while May was gone. He had a responsibility to the clan, but he also had a responsibility to his wife, it was what he had promised her on their wedding day. The thought of losing May was what kept him up on that lookout post, it put a fear like no other in him that she may not come home.

“Lad, this is ridiculous, the council needs to speak with ye,” Bruce spoke after he had climbed up onto the lookout post with him. It had been a few hours since Bruce had last checked on his ward. “Ye missed the briefing meeting and they are concerned about certain things within the clan.”

“Aye, I ken, but they should have been back by now. It’s going to be dark soon.”

“Give them some time,” Bruce said.

Iain was getting more frustrated the longer that he waited. He had been giving them time all day, but they still weren’t back and the sky was darkening with each minute that passed.

“They should have been home by now,” Iain said with a growl. He narrowed his eyes and continued to stare out at the horizon.

The land around them was littered with trees, making it difficult to detect movement. However, a party as big as the one that left earlier that day was surely large enough to be easy to see from a distance.

“Aye, dinnae panic yet, lad,” Bruce said in a quieter voice. They were both aware of the lookout guards that were around them, and the last thing that either of them wanted to do was invoke panic in people. However, Iain wasn’t convinced. His heart was beating rapidly and the thought of May not coming back was playing on his mind more than anything.

* * *

Iain was a nervous wreck after the sun had gone down. He was panicking while trying not to let it show to the people that were around him.

“Have the search party returned?” Iain asked as he stormed into the great hall. His advisors were there along with Bruce. Alistair was resting in his chambers, but there were messengers ready to deliver any news to him as soon as possible.

“Nae yet,” Bruce shook his head.

Iain’s fists were clenched and he growled as he thought about the fact that May wasn’t back yet.

“Well, when will they be here?” Iain shouted angrily.

“I’m nae sure, but they will be back soon.”

Iain waited only an hour more before he threw his fist at the nearest wooden door and grunted as it made contact and splintered the wood slightly. His shoulder was throbbing but Iain didn’t care, he was far too angry to worry about the pain. He was beyond angry and felt as though he was in a state of hopelessness that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Finally, the advisors on the council were starting to see sense that May was actually gone and not coming back.

“I told ye,” Iain shouted at Bruce as he paced around viciously, “I told ye ages ago that I was worried about her. Look now, she has nae come back and whose fault is that? We let her go out there when she wasnae safe.”

“She was as safe as she could be,” Bruce fired back.

“That still wasnae safe enough,” Iain responded.

He was furious with the men around him and felt as though there was no hope in trying to justify himself anymore. May was missing and it was now going to be his job to bring her back.

“And ye would have been able to stop her from being taken or wherever she is.”

“I would have been able to at least prevent it a little,” Iain was quick with his words. His body was shaking with anger and he felt as though he was close to breaking point with worry for May.

“Well, there was nae way that we could ken she would have been taken. She could be held up by anything,” Bruce tried to reason, “For all we ken, she could be staying the night in the outskirts.”

Iain listened to his guardian, but he didn’t register to a word that he was saying because he was far too worried for May.

“I think I ken who would have taken her,” Iain spoke as he stared out at the landscape around him.

“Athol?” Bruce spoke in a low tone.

“Aye,” Iain nodded after a moment of hesitation, “If anyone was going to take my wife, it would be the man that I had handed to the authorities all of those years ago. He has the most reason, and I’m sure that he wouldnae hesitate to do so if he ken about how far I had come.”

“If it really is Athol that has May, do ye think that he will be reasonable?”

“I have to hope so, otherwise there will be nay mercy for him when I find him. I want nothing more than to be rid of him completely if we can get to him. If he even lays a finger on May, I will nae show him a single ounce of mercy, ye can be sure of that.”